SCs: Frost/Fire Brand vs Sword of Swiftness?
 

Which one is better? The consensus on the forums seems to be that the Frost / Fire Brand is the best general purpose low level thug and SC weapon. I've been wondering how it compares to the Sword of Swiftness though. Here are some of my rambling observations so far.

1. The Sword of Swiftness adds +2 defense, which might be useful reducing the chance of getting hit, and thus getting afflictions. It also offers two swings, combined with Quicken Self, I think this totaled 4 attacks per turn, I'm not sure though, because it's hard to track in the replays. It sure looked like 4 per turn though. The high defense build did seem really handy vs melee only armies of 50 or so though. Not sure how effective it would be vs higher skilled attackers and arrows though.

2. However, combined with a moderate encumbrance, will making 4 attacks per turn tire you out more than 2 with a Frost or Fire Brand? Maybe the Frost or Fire Brands are more efficient if you get to attack an entire square with one swing. My SC had been decked out with a bunch of reinvigoration items though, which seemed to keep fatigue under control. I think it had 10 reinvigoration and 7 encumbrance.

3. Is 7 encumbrance a bit much for a non-undead spellcasting SC? I'd been tooling around with EA Atlantis's Kings of the Deep, which have nice stats, but are pretty expensive at 500 gold each. Then again maybe I should just have him cast spells since he is a mage. With only 10 reinvigoration though, I'm not sure which spells I can keep spamming effectively though. Blade Wind would be nice, but it causes too much fatigue. Even Earth Bless doesn't seem to help much.

Maybe the Brands are better because of their lower overall cost and perhaps their lower fatigue as well. Anyhow, I will end my ramblings here. Ideas from more experienced minds are welcome.

Re: SCs: Frost/Fire Brand vs Sword of Swiftness?
 

Sword of swiftness kills a max of 2 enemies per turn, 4 if quickened.
A fire/frost brand can kill 3 per turn(and hits 3 per turn), 6 when quickened.

One round of attacks, meaning 2 attacks with the sword of swiftness or 1 with a brand, takes the same amount of encumberance.


As for the SC, you don't make spellcasting SCs. You should have some equipped basalt kings who buff and then go into battle. If you want spellcasting from them, you wont be using them as SCs/thugs. As you said, bladewind is very high fatigue. Consider magma eruption.

Re: SCs: Frost/Fire Brand vs Sword of Swiftness?
 

A quickened SC will incure twice his encumbrance, no matter whether he makes
two attacks or twenty. If he has 7 encumbrance and reinvigoration 10, he's in
trouble - he will get +4 fatigue per turn, on top of his buffing fatigue.

When you are comparing the swords, note that the Frostbrand has rather high
damage, and that the Firebrand is armourpiercing. Also, the secondary effect
often cleans the whole square, which is better than an additional attack.

As for defense, when you are surrounded by 16 enemies, it tends not to matter
that much. The last one attacks at +32... good luck parrying that one.
Body etherial, luck, mistform, even armour... those are your friends.

Re: SCs: Frost/Fire Brand vs Sword of Swiftness?
 

Here's my analysis:

1) Firebrand>frostbrand. The armor piercing has a bit to do with this, but really there are more cold immune troops than heat immune troops, i.e. the undead. HOWEVER, frostbrand is much easier to forge requiring only 1 water magic. Firebrand requires a 1-fire and 1-earth mage. Only a handful of nations get that combo naturally and earth gems at least tend to have more valuable uses then water or fire gems. Of course, if you're talking EA Atlantis they are one of the nations to have this combo easy.

2) 10 revig is pretty good. Just find a way to keep encumbrance down. For example, only equip 0 encumbrance armor and instead cast invulnerability. Do remember that Summon Earth power gives you +4 revig. Find a way to add nature magic for even more revig.

3) I have had good luck with swords of swiftness, though on Niefel Jarls with pretty high defense. Basically, I almost never see an AoE attack kill three units in one hit. Never. The four attacks from Swords of Swiftness are almost as leathal as brands' AoE, and give you much more leverage against anti-thug/SC units.

4) When it comes to spell casting the way to cast the spell more times is not to give yourself more revig, though that can be viable, its usually to incease the path. Blade wind costs 80 fatigue and requires Earth-3. Cast summon earth power beforehand and you now have Earth-4, which means Blade wind Costs you 40 fatigue. Depending on encumbrance, that will probably net you three castings. Have multiple mages. If you have an Earth-4 mage (which I think EA Attlantis can get), combine Summon Earth Power and Earth Boots to get Earth-6 and you'll be able to cast it for 26-7 fatigue. Also, consider having more mages.